Kit for adapting a tennis court of one size to a court of smaller size

ABSTRACT

An adaptation kit is used for adapting a standard tennis court into at least one tennis court of a smaller size. The kit has a hook for attachment to the center strap anchor of the standard tennis court and a hook for attachment to a link in a fence bounding the standard court. The kit includes a net suspension line extendible between the hooks, and a pair of posts, each post having a foot for engagement with the ground and a support element at its top for supporting the net suspension line. The kit includes a net suspended from the net suspension line. The kit can include a cross-strap extending between the attachments, the cross strap, in use, extending at ground level directly between the center strap anchor and the link.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS

The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119(e) to the provisionally filed applications entitled “KIT FOR ADAPTING STANDARD TENNIS COURT” having Ser. No. 61869755, filed on Aug. 25, 2013, “KIT FOR ADAPTING A TENNIS COURT OF ONE SIZE TO A COURT OF SMALLER SIZE” having Ser. No. 61914933, filed on Dec. 11, 2013, and “KIT FOR ADAPTING A TENNIS COURT OF ONE SIZE TO A COURT OF SMALLER SIZE” having Ser. No. 61950184, filed on Mar. 9, 2014, the contents of which applications are incorporated herein by reference thereto.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to tennis courts and particularly to tennis courts adapted for children's tennis play.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

A standard singles tennis court measures 78 feet long and 27 feet wide. These dimensions have been adopted to fit the adult game but are ill suited for children who lack the height, reach and strength to cover such a large area of court. For children's tennis smaller courts are needed. It would be advantageous to use features and equipment commonly present at standard tennis facilities to permit rapid conversion to multiple smaller, yet serviceable, tennis courts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the following figures are not drawn to common scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as methods, operation and functions of related elements of structure, and the combinations of parts and economies of manufacture, will become apparent upon consideration of the following description and claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of the specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a standard tennis court.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one side of the court of FIG. 1, but showing the deployment of an adaptation kit according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the one side of the court of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of part of a standard tennis court showing the deployment of an adaptation kit according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the part of the court of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a plan view of part of a standard tennis court showing the deployment of an adaptation kit according to yet another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 shows a side view of one side of a court according to another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 shows a side view of one side of a standard tennis court showing the deployment of an adaptation kit according to a further embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 shows an end view of a minicourt showing a post and foot arrangement according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION INCLUDING THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring in detail to FIG. 1, there is shown in plan view a standard tennis court. The court has, singles play sidelines 10, doubles play sidelines 11, a net 12, service lines 14, center service line 16, baselines 18 and center marks 20. As is well known, a tennis game is played in such a way that, other than at service, each player tries to land the ball after clearing the net in the area of the opposing player's half court extending between two of the sidelines (10 or 11, depending on whether a singles or doubles match) and between the net 12 and the baseline 18 of that half court.

One half of a standard singles tennis court measures 39 feet long and 27 feet wide. Someone standing in the center of his or her half court would have to move about 24 feet to get to the furthest corners of the half court. The court dimensions have been adopted to fit the adult game but are ill adapted for children who lack the height, reach and strength to cover such a large area of court.

Referring to the plan view of FIG. 2, there is shown one half of a standard court in which there is highlighted a minicourt 22 being an area for children to play tennis. This minicourt extends across the standard court. One half court of the minicourt extends in the length direction between the doubles sidelines 11 of the standard court and extends in the width direction between the baseline 18 and the service line 14 of the standard court. Someone standing in the center of his or her half of the minicourt would have to move about 12 feet to get to the furthest corners of the half court. This is half the corresponding distance of the standard court and is clearly better adapted for children's play.

Most tennis courts have a boundary fence as shown at 24. Such a fence might completely surround a single standard court with enough room for a player to play effectively around the court. Alternatively, a fence might extend around less than the four sides of the court. However, most courts will include a boundary fence at least at the front and back of the court spaced a reasonable distance from the respective baselines 18 in order to stop missed balls and so save players from having to walk back a long distance to retrieve missed balls. Such boundary fences are usually of chain link form.

Most tennis courts have a center strap anchor 26 at center court. This has an anchor point set into the tarmac, grass or clay of the court to which is attached one end of a tie strap. The strap goes over the top of the cord and is attached at its other end to the center strap anchor. The strap is used to set the height of the net at its center (usually 3 feet) somewhat lower than the height (usually 3.5 feet) of the net at left and right posts where the net is supported at the sides of the court.

A tennis conversion kit according to one embodiment of the invention is shown in its deployed condition in FIGS. 2 and 3. The kit includes a pair of hooks or shackles 28, such as carabiners, between which extends a net suspension line 30 from which is suspended a tennis net 32. The suspension line 30 can be a separate line onto which the net 32 is threaded or otherwise attached. Alternatively, the suspension line 30 forms an integral part of the net 32. The suspension line 30 is supported at sheaves or pulleys 34 mounted at or near the top of respective posts 36 with the suspension line 30 retained within grooved surfaces of the sheaves 34. The sheaves rotate in bearings mounted at or near the top of the posts 36. The posts have integral feet 38 which are flat plates welded to the bottom end of the posts 36. The feet can alternatively be formed as spikes (not shown) for insertion into a grass or clay court. In yet other alternative, the feet are detachable from the posts or attached as foldable elements to the posts. Close to one of the shackles 28 is an adjustment mechanism 40 by means of which (a) the length of the suspension line 30 can be adjusted and (b) a line 30 of a particular length can be tensioned. The adjustment mechanism 40 can be of any suitable form using, for example, principles of operation found in mechanisms to adjust and tension automobile seat belts. The kit can alternatively include separate adjustment devices: one to enable the length of the suspension line to be altered and the other being a fine adjustment device to set tension in the line.

To deploy the kit, the adjustment mechanism 40 is operated to adjust the a length of the suspension line 30 to be somewhat longer than the distance between the chain link fence 24 and the center strap anchor 26, such distance measured along the center service line 16. The carabiners 28 are then used to snap tie one end of the line 30 at a lower link of the fence 24 and to snap tie the other end of the line 30 at the center strap anchor 26. The posts 36 are then erected as shown and the line 30 is supported in the sheaves 34. The adjustment mechanism 40 is then operated to tension the line 30 over the sheaves 34 and to strengthen the engagement of the posts with the ground.

As shown in FIG. 3, the posts 36 each have a telescopic structure with a spring mounted locking button 42 in an upper telescopic piece 44 selectively seatable in one of a series of holes 46 in the lower telescopic piece 48, so allowing the height of the post 36, and thus the height of the minicourt net 32, to be adjusted. The net 32 is also fixed at the bottom of each post using any convenient means such as an integral eye on the post and a cord hanging from the net. In addition, to provide a more authentic aspect to the net, further ties from the center top of the net to the bottoms of the posts allow the center of the net to be held at a height slightly lower than the ends of the net.

As shown in the plan view of FIG. 2, the sides of the minicourt are the baseline 18 and service line 14 of one half of the standard doubles court. Similarly, the ends of one half of the minicourt are a doubles court sideline 11 and the kit net 32. This makes a minicourt half which is 18 feet square. This may be perfectly adequate for a certain setup for children's tennis play and has the advantage of using lines of the standard doubles court. There are other lines of the standard singles and doubles court which might alternatively be used to establish a court of different area, length, width, or length-to-width ratio, while still using the principle of the invention in anchoring a net suspension line between the boundary fence 24 and a standard court center strap anchor 26.

A minicourt which is specifically tailored to provide a certain area, length, width and/or aspect (length to width) ratio is alternatively obtained using boundary tape which is nailed through grommets to the court surface or which is fixed by adhesive, in each case to provide a boundary line which is easily seen and is not easily dislodged during play, but which can be removed from the larger court when the children's play period is ended. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, such a boundary tape can be fixed to the court in a position where it functions as a minicourt sideline 50 (FIG. 4). In this particular embodiment, an extended kit is deployed having two pairs of posts to establish two minicourts, each minicourt extending across a standard singles half court, the two minicourts spaced along the length of the standard half court. As shown in FIG. 6, the boundary tape is fixed to the court in a position where it can function as the minicourt baselines 52. It will be appreciated that although the illustrated embodiments of the invention show a standard dimensioned court which is adapted to provide one or more smaller courts, the kit of the invention can be used to form minicourts on any larger court. In this respect, the use of the word standard is not intended to be limiting and should in this specification be understood to mean merely a larger court which can be adapted to provide one or more minicourts.

Referring in detail to FIG. 7, there is shown a side view of a further embodiment of the invention. The standard court conversion kit illustrated in FIG. 3 has been deployed but with a blocking line 54 extending from the chain link fence 24 to the standard court net 12. The blocking line 54 extends from anchor points 56, 58 at the chain link fence 24 and the main net 12 which are at roughly the height of the top of the minicourt net 32. The blocking line 54 has a length adjustment mechanism 60 which is used to shorten or lengthen the blocking line to have it extend reasonably tautly from the fence 24 to the standard court net 12. The line 54 has shackles or other tie means at each end to enable the blocking line to be fixed to the fence and the standard court net at the anchor points 56, 58. To ensure that the blocking line tracks generally along the top of the minicourt net 32 when the kit is deployed, a quick fasten retainer 64 is used to hold the two lines 30, 54 and together.

In use, the parts of the blocking line 54 outside the minicourt net 32 prevent someone from walking between the left hand end of the net 32 and the fence 24, and from walking between the right hand end of the net 32 and the main net 12. The blocking line therefore helps to prevent distraction and interference. Depending on how busy the court environment, the blocking line may be limited to one or other of the blocking net parts 66, 68. In this case, the blocking line might close off one side of the minicourt but not the other. Such a short blocking line can be fixed to the appropriate post 36 or minicourt net 32, or could alternatively be fixed such as by splicing to the net suspension line 30. Such a short blocking line preferably extends horizontally but can also slope downwardly or upwardly to the fence or main net as desired. The blocking line can be brightly coloured or can support a flag of some kind to show more clearly that the way past the minicourt is intended to be barred.

Referring to FIG. 8, some tennis clubs may not want to have the overall tennis playing area crossed by net suspension lines 30 (shown in broken line) if they prevent club members from walking along the side of the chain link fence 24 in the area shown as 70. For the embodiment of FIG. 8, an court adaptation kit further includes a cross strap 71 which, in use, extends at ground level directly between the chain link fence 24 and the center strap anchor 26. The cross strap has a first part 72 for extending between the chain link fence 24 and a union 74 and a second part 76 for extending between the union 74 and the center strap anchor 26. The cross strap 71 is of web form whereby the web will naturally tend to rest flat against the ground. An adjustment and clamp mechanism 78 is used to trim the length of the cross strap 71 to the distance between the center strap anchor 26 and the chain link fence 24.

The cross strap part 72 actually forms a first part of the net suspension line 30, with a second part of the net suspension line extending from the union 74 over the sheave 34 on the near post 36. The union 74 can be a shackle and ring arrangement, a stitched arrangement, or any functionally similar union. In use, the cross strap, if tightly tensioned between shackles or other attachment members at ground level at the chain link fence and the centre strap anchor, will tend to hold the junction 74 to the ground. This means, in turn, there is no length of net suspension line 30 positioned at an inconvenient height between the chain link fence 24 and the position of junction 74.

Several variations of the FIG. 8 embodiment are possible. In one variation, the web form cross strap 71 is nailed through grommets to the court surface or is fixed to the court surface by adhesive. In both cases, this assists in the cross strap being held against the court surface. In another variation, to allow access along the side of the minicourt adjacent the net 12, the net suspension line 30 and the cross strap part 72 have a configuration and union similar to the union 74.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the cross strap 71 passes under the feet 38. In a further variation, the cross-strap, where it passes under each foot 38, has an anchoring piece engaging with the foot so as to prevent relative lateral movement, both along and across the minicourt, of the feet relative to the cross strap. In another variation, the cross strap consists of multiple lengths such as a first length for extension between the chain link fence and the bottom of one of the posts, a second length for extending between the bottoms of the two posts, and a third length for extending between the center strap anchor and the bottom of the other post. In another variation, the cross strap length adjustment and clamp mechanism is formed at one end of the cross strap so that length adjustment is implemented at the chain link fence or at the center strap anchor. In this variation, the cross strap is a continuous single length extending between the center strap anchor and the chain link fence.

Referring to FIG. 9, there is shown a further embodiment of the invention in which each of the posts 36 extends at an angle to the foot 38 which is not a right angle. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the result of applying tension in the net suspension line 30 is that a force T is applied to the top of the post 36 along the part of the net extension line attached to the bottom of the chain link fence 24. This force has a component Tcosθ acting horizontally to the left and a force Tsinθ acting vertically downward. A force T acts along the part of the net extension line over the net tending to drive the top of the post to the right. If the post is vertical, the difference between horizontal forces T acting to the right and Tcosθ acting to the left fence causes the post to be subjected to a clockwise moment of force about the point of engagement of the bottom of the post and the ground. The moment, which might tend to cause the post to topple in the absence of any balancing force, is negated by having the post inclined at an angle θ/2 to the vertical as shown in FIG. 9. The angle of attachment between the foot 38 and the post 36 can be a fixed attachment with the angle designed to compensate for the expected angle θ when the adaptation kit is installed. Alternatively, the attachment can be of hinge form offering a range of possible angles θ to enable specific adaptation to the dimensions of the playing area in which the adaptation kit is deployed, the hinge adjustment including a clamping mechanism for clamping the post 36 and its attached foot 38 at the desired angle. 

1. An adaptation kit for adapting a standard tennis court into at least one tennis court of a smaller size comprising a first attachment piece for attachment to the center strap anchor of the standard tennis court, a second attachment piece for attachment to a link in a fence bounding the standard tennis court, a net suspension line extending between the first and second attachments, first and second posts each post having a foot for engagement with the ground to support the posts, each post having a support element at its top for supporting the net suspension line, and a net suspended from the net suspension line.
 2. An adaptation kit as claimed in claim 1, the adaptation kit further comprising a cross strap extending between the second attachment piece and the first attachment piece, the cross strap deployable to extend directly at ground level between the center strap anchor and the link.
 3. An adaptation kit as claimed in claim 2, the line including a first line part forming a first cross strap portion for extending at ground level from one of the first and second attachment pieces, and a second line part for extending from a first junction point at the end of the first line part remote from said one attachment piece to the support element at one of the posts.
 4. An adaptation kit as claimed in claim 2, the cross-strap and the or each foot having respective formations thereon, which formations are interengageable to prevent relative lateral movement between the or each foot and the cross strap.
 5. An adaptation kit as claimed in claim 3, the line further including a third line part forming a second cross strap portion for extending at ground level from the other of the first and second attachment pieces, and a fourth line part for extending from a second junction point at the end of the third line part remote from said other attachment piece to the support element at the other of the posts.
 6. An adaptation kit as claimed in claim 2, the cross strap being of web form.
 7. An adaptation kit as claimed in claim 2, the cross strap having apertures therein to enable pinning of the cross strap to the ground.
 8. An adaptation kit as claimed in claim 3 in which the junction is a stitched junction.
 9. An adaptation kit as claimed in claim 1, each of the posts inclined to the plane of its respective foot.
 10. A standard tennis court adapted by the use of an adaptation kit to provide at least one tennis court of a smaller size than said standard tennis court, the standard tennis court having a first attachment piece of the kit attached to the center strap anchor of the standard tennis court, a second attachment piece of the kit attached to a link in a fence bounding the standard tennis court, a net suspension line of the kit extending between the first and second attachments, first and second posts of the kit, each post having a foot engaging the ground to support a respective post and having a support element at its top for supporting the net suspension line, a net suspended from the net suspension line between the respective posts and a line adjuster mounted in the line.
 11. A court as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a cross strap extending directly at ground level between the center strap anchor and the link.
 12. A court as claimed in claim 11, the line including a first line part forming a first cross strap portion extending at ground level from one of the first and second attachments pieces, and a second line part extending from a first junction point at the end of the first line part remote from said one attachment piece to the support element at one of the posts.
 13. A court as claimed in claim 11, the cross-strap and the or each foot having respective formations thereon, which formations are interengageable to prevent relative lateral movement between the or each foot and the cross strap.
 14. A court as claimed in claim 12, the line further including a third line part forming a second cross strap portion extending at ground level from the other of the first and second attachment pieces, and a fourth line part extending from a second junction point at the end of the third line part remote from said other attachment piece to the support element at the other of the posts.
 15. A court as claimed in claim 11, the cross strap being of web form.
 16. A court as claimed in claim 11, the cross strap having apertures therein at which the cross strap is pinned to the ground.
 17. A court as claimed in claim 12, the junction being a stitched junction.
 18. A court as claimed in claim 10, each of the posts inclined to the plane of its respective foot. 